Nonpro t
BY MELISSA ENAJE
Aaron Flores, Blackwood’s chief operations o cer and lead farmer, tends to crops in October.
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401 Franklin St., Houston https://blackwoodland.org
August Stubler was rst introduced to Blackwood farm and its educational opportunities as a youth at the farm’s Hempstead location. Now as an adult with a master’s degree in sustainable food systems, he brings his knowledge as a full-time farmer.
PHOTOS BY MELISSA ENAJE COMMUNITY IMPACT
Blackwood Skyfarm connects nature to incarcerated youth
Located at POST Houston, the farm laboratory, as they call it, experiments with di erent regener- ative agricultural techniques. The organization’s mission is to build community around food, reduce its carbon footprint and create healthier outcomes for the city. If every crop has its own survival story, then connected to each watermelon and pumpkin are the stories of the young people who participated in Skyfarm’s latest educational program with the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department. The details In June, Blackwood piloted an eight-week program to provide urban agricultural education
to residents in juvenile detention facilities by bringing in plants twice a week. Each youth has their 8-by-10 cell in a unit of 15 cells. Whether it was discussing the historical relationship between food and humans, racial injustice or food production, Conlon said the youth asked intelligent questions. “They’re very young, pliable brains. There’s so much room to help mold them into being the best person that they can be, if they want to be,” Conlon said. Going forward Lead farmer Aaron Flores said they plan for the program to return in the spring.
Cath Conlon carted trays of vegetables through the elevators at a multiuse development in the heart of Downtown Houston. The president and CEO of the nonpro t Blackwood Educational Land Institute was bringing fresh crops from her Hempstead farm to one of biggest urban rooftop farms in Texas, Blackwood Skyfarm. DO IT ANYWHERE ANY T I ME
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